Asbestos was used for decades in construction and shipbuilding. If you or someone close to you has worked as a drywaller, pipefitter, or in the Navy, you may have been exposed to harmful asbestos fibers. Learn more >

Mesothelioma is a deadly, elusive cancer caused by exposure to asbestos. We provide free resources to help you understand diagnosis, treatment, and more. Learn more >

Dealing with asbestos-related disease can be hard. Finding the right doctor or hospital can make all the difference. Click here to see how we can help. Learn more >

Mesothelioma doesn't have to tear your family apart. We help you and your family get through this difficult time together. Click here to learn more. Learn more >

Mesothelioma Gene Therapy

Mesothelioma is an aggressive and dangerous disease, but there is cause for hope among patients and their families. Researchers are working on many fascinating techniques that may be effective in treating mesothelioma, such as gene therapy. This new type of mesothelioma treatment involves actually changing the genetic structure of cancer cells in order to make them more treatable.

Genes are the building blocks of DNA, which can be found in all cells, both healthy and cancerous. By changing a tissue’s genetic structure, physicians can alter its functions and lifespan. The goal of gene therapy is to change the DNA of tumors to make them more susceptible to drugs or to kill them outright.

How Gene Therapy Works

Mesothelioma gene therapy is based on complex scientific principles, but the basic idea behind it is relatively simple. First, doctors select a vector, which is a molecule that can be used to transmit new genetic information to cells. Most vectors in gene therapy are viruses. This is because viruses have a natural ability to target cells and inject foreign genes.

Of course, injecting a patient with a virus can be dangerous. Gene therapists reduce these risks by removing certain proteins from the viruses they use. Removing these proteins stops the virus’s ability to cause illness. Once they are removed, new genes are added so the virus can deliver them to the cancerous tissue.

This altered virus is then injected into the patient. Depending on the type of gene treatment being administered, it will alter cancerous growths in different ways. These growths may become easier to treat with chemotherapy, easier for the immune system to recognize and target, or impaired in a way that will kill them.